Nick honestly had been meaning to pick up a Halloween costume. He had seen Victor’s texts about the surprise pledge initiation party and everything. He had taken on a bigger class load this semester though, and before he knew it the night of the party had rolled around.
That wasn’t too big a deal. He’d just have to go as a zombie again. His room at the frat house still had his mask from last year. Any part of his old costume that he couldn’t find could probably be swapped out by his laundry day attire.
He was all ready to head back up to his bedroom when one of the pledges mentioned a nearby costume shop that was still open. He had enough time to check it out and still double back for his mask if they didn’t have anything good. Well, if he got a ride.
“Heeeeeeeey Dave,” Nick slid up to his room mate.
“Where do you need a drive to?” Dave pulled out his keys.
“I was just going to ask if you had a costume!” Nick said indignantly, waiting a beat, “I also was going to ask if you wanted to check out The Second Skin.”
“Hmm.” Dave thought about it for a moment, “I still have my orange ninja jacket from last year.”
“And the year before that.” Nick gestures towards the departing group of pledges, “Come on, let’s check it out.”
It didn’t take much convincing, and soon the two had a truck full of people heading out the the mysterious new costume shop. Nick had to admit it wasn’t what he expected. The building looked a lot less fly-by-night than most Halloween shops, and the costumes were top notch.
“Seriously, do you contract out with movie studios or something?” Nick asked the shopkeeper curiously.
“Nah, I’d rather just support the local community.” The enigmatic shopkeeper smiled. He had injected himself into Nick’s shopping experience nearly instantly. “Do you need help finding anything?”
“I’m good-“ Nick started to protest.
“Are you sure? I’m more than happy to show you around. We’ve got an excellent selection of tails?” The shopkeeper pointed off to a nearby aisle.
Nick’s interest was piqued. He wasn’t sure he wanted to spend an entire evening wearing a fake tail around a bunch of tipsy frat boys though. They were liable to spend half the night tugging on it and trying to throw Nick off balance. Still, he’d spent more than enough time online to be at least a little curious. Was that the shopkeep’s usual opening line, or did something about Nick make him radiate “tail guy”?
“Oohh, I’ll take a look.” Dave stepped in front of Nick.
The shopkeeper’s face lit up, “Oh, sure! Right this way sir!”
With some actual peace and quiet, Nick started to browse the shop. Everything here was exquisite, if not a little eccentric. He recognized a few Halloween staples like a werewolf and a mummy, but he also saw someone walk by with a pair of goat pants. As he made his way deeper into the store, he saw two frat brothers carrying what appeared to be a large donkey hide.
Nick was about to double back to the tail aisle when he suddenly ran headfirst into a suit of armor.
Literally. The layout of this place made no sense.
He backed up, rubbing his forehead. The armor let out a gentle clang as he ran into it, but it otherwise seemed fine.
“Oof. Watch where you’re going going.” He scolded the suit. Mark gently ran his hands along the suit’s metal chest plate checking for any dents. Err, new dents.
Was this supposed to be a costume? It honestly looked like it was close to crumbling apart. The armor had long since lost its shine, and there were noticeable rust buildups in several spots. What leather straps Nick could see appeared to be worn with centuries of age.
Well, there was one way to find out. He glanced around to see if anyone was watching. When the coast was clear, he curiously popped off one of the suit’s metal gauntlets.
Jackpot! The insides were all fresh padding. He stuck his hand in curiously, flexing his fingers around a bit. The metal plates creaked some, but the glove overall was pretty comfortable.
So this was a costume! Whether or not it a would it fit was another question entirely however. This suit looked massive, and there was one critical part that needed a good fit.
Nick looked around again, then quickly snatched the helmet off the suit of armor.
It felt heavy in his hands, but looked about his size. It had slits in front of the eyes, with one of the classic pull-up visor designs. The hinge was a little squeaky, but it worked.
Again, the pieces of visible leather looked beyond distressed, but the insides had a nice soft lining. Nick took a deep breath and slowly lowered the helmet down over his head.
Oof! It was tight! He felt the padding press up against him firmly. Just as he was about to give up on the headpiece, Nick could feel it start to slide down around his cheeks. The helmet popped into position as it tightly framed his jawline.
“Man, this thing’s snug!” Nick laughed nervously. He tried to pull the helmet off his head, but it seemed like it was stuck on tight.
“Come on come on…” He gave it another firm tug. Maybe there was some trick to it? He couldn’t exactly see what he was doing. Nick looked around and then spotted a full length mirror a few shelves over. Perfect.
He casually walked over to the mirror. Nick could feel his breath start to fog up the helmet a bit. Hopefully there would be some obvious way to pull it off and-
“Gah!” He yelled out. The… the helmet’s eyes were glowing! Two faint red globes glared out from behind the helmet’s eye slits. Even his breath seemed to roll out like an ethereal fog.
“Holy cow…” he leaned a bit closer. How… was it doing that? Had he accidentally triggered some red LEDs when he put it on?
The helmet still didn’t seem to have any obvious straps or releases for him to tug on. His gloved hand wasn’t exactly helping matters either.
Thankfully the gauntlet came off with a solid pull. He walked back over to the suit and… o-kay how did this thing attach again? He glanced over the arm plate, trying to find some spot to cinch it back on.
“Find something you like?” A familiar voice from outside Nick’s line of vision spoke up.
Nick quickly stood back up, “Oh! You scared the hell out of me.” A puff of steam floated in front of his face as he exhaled, “I just saw this suit here and was curious if it fit.”
“Funny, usually it’s the other way around.” The robed shopkeeper walked forward, “It’s been a while since someone rented Sir Silver.”
“Sir Silver…?” Nick echoed.
The shopkeeper nodded, bending over and unhooking the other gauntlet from the suit. “Not the most creative name, I know.” He held the glove up, “Arms up please.”
“What?” Nick blinked as the man slid the gauntlet on his free hand. “Oh! I was just taking this off actually!”
The shopkeeper plucked the gauntlet Nick was holding out of his hand before sliding it on him too. “Really? But you haven’t even tried it on fully yet!” He grinned, “It’s usually a two person job.”
“This is a bit much. I’m not sure i was even planning on buying it.” Nick protested.
“Actually, I must insist you do a rental first before committing to an outfit such as this.” He started to undo the back straps on the chest plate, “But trying it on will only take a moment.” He casually slid the chest and arm pieces off the display stand, “I’m usually a wizard, but I’ll play a squire today.”
“Really, this isn’t necessary,” Nick protested, but he held his arms up in a t-pose for the “wizard”.
“Come now, you wouldn’t have gone and stuck your head where it didn’t belonged if you didn’t have some interest in this armor.” The shopkeeper slowly lowered the chest piece around Nick’s torso, “Mr…”
“Oh!” The shopkeeper wasn’t sure if that was a reaction the question, or to the several pounds of metal getting dropped on his shoulders. “Fargo. Nick Fargo.”
“Nice to meet you Nick.” The shopkeeper tightened several straps that Nick couldn’t see, attaching the chest piece to his body and wrapping the arm plates into place. “I’m Merlin.” He walked in front of Nick, doing a little bow.
“Seriously?” Nick tilted his head with a small metallic rattle.
“Why does everyone keep- Yes, seriously.” He looked down at Nick, “Now this is a little embarrassing, but I should have asked you to take off your shoes earlier.”
“No problem. I can just-“ Nick started to bend down, but then noticed he was far less flexible than he had been earlier. “Oh.”
“Right.” Merlin grinned, “Just hold onto a shelf and lift a foot please.”
“Thanks.” Nick did as he was told, trying to do his best to watch Merlin undo his shoes.
The helmet didn’t offer him a ton of peripheral vision, and he realized it was rather hard to look down. After the shopkeeper removed his shoes, he took the leggings off of the display and started working them over Nick’s jeans.
Nick was rapidly having to get used to his movement being limited by the joints in his suit. It was a little weird having someone he couldn’t see attaching metal plates and tying down straps on his legs. He tried to keep his mind off it.
“So, Merlin huh?” Nick mused, “I suppose you’re going to tell me the glowing eye trick is all magic?”
“You catch on quick.” Merlin laughed.
Nick gave a polite chuckle. LEDs it was then. His laugh sounded kinda weird and echoey as it bounced out of the helmet.
Merlin wiggled one of the suit’s boots in front of the helmet, “Right foot please.”
Nick did as he was told. His foot slid into the bottom of the large metal boot. The two quickly repeated the process with the other boot. Nick clanked back and forth a bit, trying to get used to the new sense of balance afforded to him by the massive suit and the new boot’s inflexible soles.
Realizing there wasn’t anything left on the display stand, Nick turned and tried to head back towards the mirror. He suddenly found himself wobbling excessively before Merlin quickly reached out and caught him.
“Woah, you’re wearing a lot of metal.” Merlin steadied him, “You’re going to have to move a lot slower than that.”
Nick slowed his stride and found it considerably easier to move. He clambered up to the mirror and then stopped dead in his tracks.
“Woah…” He whispered. Merlin had some an impeccable job of attaching this suit of armor. He had expected bits of his blue jeans or t-shirt to poke through the gaps, but all he could see was rusted steel and rotted leather. It looked just like the suit of armor had decided to get up off his pedestal and walk over to the mirror.
“Amazing…” Nick hissed. “Truly…” He felt his words bounce around the helmet again. He reached up, lifting the visor.
The illusion was almost immediately broken. The red lights turned off, and the face of a clean cut 21st century college student appeared inside the helmet.
“Holy crap this is amazing!” Nick almost shouted. “Whoops, sorry…!” He quickly lowered his voice. “Merlin, this costume is awesome!”
“I pride myself on my work.” Merlin grinned, “This costume is popular with haunted house crews.” He flipped Nick’s visor down again, “Showing your face kind of spoils the surprise though.”
“Right…” Nick nodded. He tried to speak up again. The helmet really muffled everything. “Haunted… houses?”
“You bet,” Merlin grinned, “Look, come here.” He walked to the end of the aisle, pushing some of the mannequins to the side, “Stand right here and don’t move.”
“Okay…?” Nick slowly lumbered over, “Why?”
Merlin glanced over his shoulder, “Be quiet.”
Before Nick could ask any further questions, Dave came walking up with a tiger tail pinned to his pants. He asked Merlin a few questions, and seemed to pay absolutely no attention to Nick.
When he stood still, all the metal plates seemed to sag into place and interlock with one another. The weight on his shoulders reduced considerably and it actually felt pretty comfortable. The break was nice and Nick didn’t mind playing set dressing for the shop.
“I know just the ears that would go with that.” Merlin beamed, “Just wait here- And try not to get too jumpy. People can get spooked pretty easily in this shop.” He glanced up at Nick for the briefest instant. “Be right back.”
Merlin left Dave alone. Well “alone”. Nick could see what Merlin was getting at now. He waited until Dave was focused on his tail’s clasp before stepping off the display.
“Boo!” He clattered, holding both arms in the air.
“Holyshitwhatthehell!?” Dave literally fell over, dropping his tail.
“Scared ya…” Nick grinned behind the helmet. A puff of steam floated out of the helmet’s grates again.
“What is wrong with you!?” Dave started to get back up. “Wait… Nick?”
The one and only. What did you think? Pretty good huh? This suit is incredible!“Yes…” Nick hissed his response out slowly.
“You nearly gave me a heart attack!” Dave looked Nick over. “Wow, this thing must cost a fortune.”
“Rental.” Nick responded. He was having trouble getting his thoughts out past the helmet. It was… a weird sensation. He quickly flipped the visor up, “I mean, it’s a rental.” He gave his room mate a huge grin, “What do you think?”
Dave kept spinning around Nick. “It’s a little over the top for me. You’re not going to get sweaty and tired wearing that all night?”
“Maybe?” Nick held his arms up, “Come on, Halloween only happens once per year.”
“Whatever floats your boat man.” Dave chuckled. “Just don’t come crying to me when you want out halfway through.”
“Actually he’ll probably need some help getting out of that.” Merlin walked back up holding a tiger ear headband. “I think I found just the thing to complete your outfit.”
“Oh, hey!” Dave held up his unattached tail, “I’m not sure if a tiger’s really right for me.”
Nick raised his arms and looked down at himself, “Right, about getting out of this actually…” He did his best to twist in place, trying to figure out how the suit was supposed to come off.
“Ah! You’ll need some help with that. Come on, I’ll show you.” Merlin walked behind Nick with Dave in tow. The shopkeeper started poking at some spots behind the chest piece. “The straps to release the outfit are here, here, here, and here.” He paused, “Got all that?”
Dave watched as Merlin pointed. “Uh, yeah, I think so.” He reached forward, grinning as he tightened one of the straps, “This is going to be some party Nick.”
“Party?” Merlin cocked his head.
“Yeah, TFU’s doing a big Halloween party tonight!” Dave pointed deeper into the shop, “I better go get the others actually.” He plopped the tail into Merlin’s hands, “Thanks for the help!”
“Wait!” Nick clanged, “I still need help getting out of- Ugh.” He dropped his shoulders. “How much is the rental on this?”
“A hundred dollars a night.” Merlin rocked on his heels a bit. Usually he likes to vague people’s reactions, but right now Nick’s face was the only thing poking through the outfit.
“Really?” Nick tried to look down, “That’s… not actually a bad deal. Given the quality of this thing I mean.”
“I’m not so sure you should wear that tonight actually.” Merlin rubbed the back of his head, “Sir Silver usually works best with small groups.”
Nick gave the shopkeeper a confused look. “It’ll be fine, we’re at a big house. There’s plenty of space.” He nodded confidently… sending the face plate slamming back down.
“Yeah, sure, but you’re a haunted suit of armor.” Merlin patted the steel plate on his side, “You can’t go moving around in front of a bunch of people. One on one encounters are the way to go.”
“Why…?” Nick asked slowly.
“If you move in front of one person, they’ll think it was their imagination. You can just clam up and hold still until they look away again. If everyone looks over and sees a suit of armor moving, then they can just all go, ‘Yup, haunted armor, let’s run’.” He chuckled. “You should stick to the statue routine if multiple people are around.”
“Yes…” Nick nodded, standing up a bit straighter. Ugh, why was he-
Nick flipped the visor up again. “If you say so.” He nodded, holding the visor in place, “I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
“If you insist.” Merlin chuckled. “A minute ago you wanted out of that costume.”
Nick tried to check his watch, and naturally just saw a plate of metal, “I actually really need to get going. Do I need to sign a contract or something?” He reached around to his back pocket and- “Ugh, my wallet’s under the armor.”
“What’s your phone number? You can pay when you drop it off.” Merlin reached into his robe, pulling out a small index card sized piece of paper and a pen. Wow, he just always walked around with that?
“Uh…” Nick quickly rattled off his number. “You sure you trust me? This is a nice suit.”
“Nick Fargo, TFU Party, Five five five…” Merlin read back the info, “This should be enough. It’s a small town, I know where you live Nick.” He winked. “Just bring it back tomorrow before eight PM.”
He leaned over to the wall, holding the card flat against it, “And of course, sign here please.” He held out the pen to Nick.
One sloppy signature later and Nick was the proud renter of a rusty suit of armor. He really did need to get going, so he said farewell to the shopkeeper and started moving towards the front of the store.
Just before he made it outside, Nick could hear a gaggle of frat boys approaching. He noticed an empty spot next to the front door and quickly hopped into it. He stood perfectly still, waiting for them to pass.
Everyone one of them walked by without giving him a second glance.
Neat!
Okay, maybe tonight was going to be fun. He followed them outside, making sure not to clank too loudly. He got a hang of it, and was able to be surprisingly quiet when he wanted to be. He eventually found Dave waiting by his truck.
“Ready… to move on…” He flipped his visor up, “I mean, hey, I’m ready to go.” He grinned.
“Wow, you really went for it. You look like what’s his name from that one anime.” Dave laughed, flipping the tail of his truck’s trunk down.
“I think I’m going more the chasing meddling kids look.” Nick laughed, watching Dave, “What are you doing?”
Dave tapped his truck, “No way you’re fitting in the cab. Get in.”
“Are you kidding me?” Nick flipped his visor down, clambering into the truck.
He hated riding in the back. It wasn’t exactly the safest mode of transport, although he couldn’t help but wonder if wearing armor would help or hinder him getting bonked on the head. His teeth were chattering as the road’s vibration passed through the car and into his metal plates, but thankfully after a while the sensation went away.
Dave and their friends got out of the truck. One of them had rented a costume as well, and they all stood around chatting about it for a minute or two.
Nick just sat there in the truck. It had been a rockier ride than he expected, and he was giving himself a moment to collect himself. His body felt vaguely numb after all that rattling and he didn’t want them to see him unceremoniously flop out of the truck. Finally they left and Nick started lumbering towards TFU.